Veep Beat: Rubio’s Family Life, Pawlenty Hush-Hush

US Government(WASHINGTON) — ‘MEET THE RUBIOS’ In her first extended interview, Jeanette Rubio joined her husband Marco Rubio to discuss their family life with Politico and said that she is prepared for whatever scrutiny the couple may undergo as his national profile begins to rise.

“I’m prepared for the idea that no matter what he does — especially when there’s talk of him being the VP candidate — that [there] are things that are going to come out,” Jeanette Rubio told Politico. “And through the Senate campaign, we already went through a lot. … That really prepared us, or at least me.”

The interview shares the story of how they met, endured distance relationship in the age of no-Skype (Instead, Marco Rubio wrote long letters), and how they maintain a strong family in Florida while Marco Rubio works in D.C.

RUBIO WARNS OF ‘DAILY’ DEBT CEILING CRISIS: While Congress won’t have to vote on raising the debt ceiling until the end of the year, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., still warned that the country is facing a debt ceiling crisis “daily” and criticized Secretary Treasury Timothy Geithner’s suggestion that a debt ceiling crisis does not exist. We are having a debt ceiling crisis on a daily basis, and here’s why,” Rubio said in a FOX News interview Thursday. “Because this government every year is spending $1.5 trillion more than it takes in.” RUBIO ON VEEPSTAKES: “I’m curious to see who it’s going to be.” (Your World with Neil Cavuto, 5.17.12)

PAWLENTY NOW MUM ON VP PROSPECTS: Just days after he told reporters to “remove my name from the list,” former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty didn’t rule out that his name could appear on the GOP ticket this fall, but refused to speak about the “process,” which he attributed to being a tight-lipped policy of the Romney campaign. “We don’t talk about the vice presidential policy in terms of timing, whether it relates to me or anyone else or the aspects of that,” Pawlenty told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell. “That’s just the campaign’s policy. We don’t discuss the details of that process.”

RYAN AVOIDS VP TALK: During an editorial board meeting with the Washington Examiner, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., deflected questions about whether he is being vetted by the Romney campaign. “I’m not gonna get into that. I’m not changing any of my answers. I get asked this every time I walk down the street. I’m not gonna give any new answers. I’ll let them comment about this. If I’m not gonna get into any of that. I’m not here to talk about that,” Ryan said according to a transcript of the meeting.

CONDI: ‘I DON’T REALLY LOVE POLITICS’ Condoleezza Rice again said she will not be Mitt Romney’s running mate, saying she doesn’t really have that loving feeling for politics. “Not going to happen,” she said. “I love policy, I don’t really love politics,” Rice said at a speech in Chicago Thursday. “One can do a lot with policy not in Washington.”

IS THUNE OUT? The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports Friday that Mitt Romney’s VP vetting team has started reaching out to potential VP candidates, according to a source close to the campaign. The Hill directly asked four potential contenders if they had been contacted by the campaign. Sen. Rob Portman, Sen. Marco Rubio, and Rep. Paul Ryan each declined to answer the question, but Sen. John Thune, who falls on some VP speculation lists, said the campaign had not reached out to him at all.

PORTMAN TALKS REV. WRIGHT ATTACK AD: ABC News’ Gregory Simmons directs us to the Ohio News Network, which reports Sen. Rob Portman warned the Romney campaign and supporters to stay clear of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright attack ad on Obama. “I just think it’s a time for us to figure out how to come together as a country to solve these big problems,” Portman said, according to ONN. “The person who can show leadership on the economy is the person who folks are going to support as the next president.”

McDONNELL WEIGHS IN ON N.C. RACE: Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, who also serves as the chairman of the RGA, stood beside Republican Pat McCrory, who is running for governor of North Carolina, Thursday as he talked about the importance of the N.C. race, the Charlotte Observer reports. “Whatever we need to do to help Pat win, we will do,” McDonnell said as the two toured a Coca-Cola plant in Charlotte. “We rank this as one of the absolute top races in the country.”

VEEP TWEETS

@robportman Let’s take time during National Police Week to thank the brave service of our policemen and women dedicated to keeping us safe